48 Questions (and the answers too!)

Last week I was too busy LIVING my life to write about it! And this week I’m playing catch up from last week. So here’s a self-indulgent, quickie post, inspired by my friend Elizabeth, to get me back to blogging.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?Yes. My first name is for my mother’s sister, Mary Leslie (who was herself named for a street in Mechanicsville–Leslie Avenue–which used to have an exit sign off of I-40 that thrilled me as a little girl!). My middle name is Carroll, my mother’s maiden name. My sisters and I all were given family names as middle names.
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
I cry on a daily basis when reading sappy things on the Internet. I think the last time I cried for real was a a month or so ago when I got a flat tire on the interstate and I called John and burst into tears because it was kind of like the last straw.
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
Yes, I am very proud of it because it was messy for so long and I worked hard to improve (eight years of daily handwriting pages–even Catholic schools don’t do that anymore.).
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Whatever turkey is on sale. 🙂
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
Am I the only one who gets confused by these questions? If I were another person, I’d be another person, so who knows who I’d want to be friends with? If the point of the question is to ask if I consider myself to be a good friend, the answer is yes.
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
Yes, even with my kids, which “they say” is bad.
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
Yes, and I wish I didn’t. Although it’s now been many years since I had it, I used to get tonsillitis fairly frequently, even up into my twenties.
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
HELL NO. Not for any amount of money. I’m afraid of heights. My knees get weak when I stand on a chair–no lie.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Maybe Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds . . . but I’m not picky. I do love cereal, though.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?No.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
I think I must be.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
Mayfield’s Turtle Tracks, but I would never think to buy ice cream for only myself, and I get a cone once a year, on the last day of school (that’s a family tradition, and in recent years we’ve gone to Kay’s Ice Cream where I get Lemon Custard.).

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
I hate this question. I don’t know. It depends on the person. I do tend to size people up rather quickly but it’s more an overall thing.
15. RED OR PINK?
Pink.
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
It changes with the day. Today let’s say I wish I did not bite my fingernails.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?Mima.

18. WHAT IS THE TECHNIQUE THAT YOU NEED TO WORK ON THE MOST?
Consistent discipline of all kinds and in all areas.
19. WHAT COLOR SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
White tennis shoes with blue trim.
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
My last Turtle from Valentine’s Day–John bought me three boxes of different kinds!
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
Blessed silence.
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
Yellow.
23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
Honeysuckle.
24. HOW IMPORTANT ARE YOUR POLITICAL VIEWS TO YOU?
I don’t have political views, I have moral views. And they are central to who I am.
25. MOUNTAIN HIDEAWAY OR BEACH HOUSE?
Mountain hideaway. Ideally I’d like to retire in a mountain cabin like the one where we spent our honeymoon.
26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Football.
27. HAIR COLOR?
It might be totally grey. I am not ready to find out. The color I use doesn’t work well anymore because it’s not meant for hair this far gone. So it’s been coming out kind of silvery blonde, which people seem to like.
28. EYE COLOR?
Blue.
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
No. I did not even need glasses until a couple of years ago. I have reading glasses which I use in dim light, and other glasses which I use for driving or to look at far away things like football games. I have not started wearing them all the time on a daily basis yet.

30. FAVORITE FOOD?
This list changes with my mood . . . shrimp. biscuits, and steak are the first things that pop into my mind.
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
Happy endings. I don’t like scary.
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?Les Miserables

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?Eggplant. It’s my take-William-to-school sweatshirt.
34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
I love all four seasons. Now that we have air conditioning again, and since it never snows anymore, I guess I’d pick summer.
35. FAVORITE DESSERT?
I’m not a big dessert person. When I go out to eat what I like is creme brulee. (I am too lazy to figure out how to make the accent marks.).
36. STRENGTH TRAINING OR CARDIO?
Strength training. Not that I do either at the moment.
37. COMPUTER OR TELEVISION?
Computer. I don’t watch t.v. Really.
38. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
I just finished The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. It was amazing. I am also currently re-reading all of my Agatha Christie books.

39. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?Someone really needs to remove this question. Although I do have a wireless mouse, because I wore out the built on one on my laptop within a few months.
40. FAVORITE SOUND?
Outside beautiful day noises (bird song, frogs, wind blowing, basketballs bouncing)
41. FAVORITE GENRE OF MUSIC?
I don’t have a favorite. I even like some things my kids listen to. 😉
42. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
France, when I was 17.
43. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
Writing is one of them.

44. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?Knoxville, Tennessee.
45. WHERE ARE YOU LIVING NOW?
Knoxville, Tennessee.
46. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR HOUSE?
Just some kind of boring house color.

47. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR CAR?
Metallic.
48. DO YOU LIKE ANSWERING 48 QUESTIONS?
It was fairly painless!

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I feel pretty good when I read this list.~ A Grandparent’s Wisdom on Parenting ~

1. Let your child be a child. Children are not little adults.

2. Don’t have too many rules, especially when they’re little. They’re not going to remember them all anyway.

3. Pick your battles. It won’t work to make an issue out of everything your child does that you don’t like.

4. The greatest gift you can give your child besides your love is your time. Whenever possible, interrupt what you are doing to take time for them. Many things you need to do can be put off until later but many things your child does only happen once, and you don’t want to miss them.

5. Don’t micromanage your child’s behavior. It isn’t necessary (or productive in the long run) to try to control everything he or she says or does.

7. Kids get tired. When they do, it’s usually futile to try to reason with them to get them to do what you want.

8. Don’t say things to your own child that you would never dream of saying to someone else’s child.

9. Whatever stage your child is in, remember: this, too, shall pass, and they will move on to another stage. (This may be better or worse than the previous one!)

10. Don’t let mealtime become a battle zone. No child has ever starved to death yet because they didn’t eat everything on their plate.

11. Read to your child.

12. When your child starts talking, listen. What they say is important to them, and kids have great things to say.

13. Spend some time tucking your child into bed each night.

14. It’s good to find a church family to help you raise your child. You need others to support you. Your child needs to establish a good foundation of values and truth. If he or she doesn’t get this early in life, they might get it later and from someone else you may not like.

15. Take time every day to enjoy your child and relish this role God has blessed you with.

(Postscript: my dad says some of these are things he did, and some are things he wishes he’d done. ❤️) …

Timeline Photos"Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you." – Luke 14 #SundayGospel bit.ly/2ZpzEtS…

"Arsonists have set God’s Cathedral aflame. In the Amazon rainforest, home to hundreds of thousands of animal species, 40,000 plant species, and nearly a million indigenous people, fires are raging, destroying the ecological buttresses of one of the most biodiverse and important ecosystems in the world. These creatures are a testament to God’s good creation, a living, breathing cathedral, shaped by the evolutionary forces of God, and entrusted to human hands." …

"Baby loss is not just a story of grief, of pain and of tears, its a beautiful story of love and of celebration.

So let’s scream from the rooftops that all children matter, those that are here and those that we desperately miss."I haven’t shared this picture for quite some time so wanted to post it again this evening. These are my children…the ones that ran ahead and the ones who I get the honour to raise.

Someone said to me in an interview recently well you are the mother of two, I kindly corrected them. I am the mother of 7, just because five of my children didn’t get to grow up on the earth, doesn’t stop them from existing.

I also wanted to say this…Baby loss is not just a story of grief, of pain and of tears, its a beautiful story of love and of celebration.

So let’s scream from the rooftops that all children matter, those that are here and those that we desperately miss. ❤️

I am so unbelievably touched that SO many people have liked and shared this image, THANK You. Please feel free to also like my page and see future posts and quotes, I would love for you to become a FB friend x